Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda and American drummer Mark Guiliana performed together as a duet for the first time last December @ Rose bar in Williamsburg.
I've seen each musician perform before but I've never seen them together. As Castañeda said: "we met in Israel and we both where amazed by each other's playing so we decided to get together."
This duet is a very interesting musical and cultural combination because Edmar plays Arpa llanera (plains' harp), which is a typical Colombian and Venezuelan instrument used to play música llanera(and it's not a diatonic instrument), while Mark is a jazz drummer who happens to love rock and reggae music but who demonstrated to be able to master the 6/8 rhythm in a unique, almost South American way, and that's the base for this duet.
Although Edmar started playing música llanera, he has developed a special technique for the harp and has brought his skill to jazz and world music without leaving his roots behind.
The chemistry of Castañeda and Guiliana is so special and virtuous that evokes a typical cliché: the traditional pact with the Devil.
This interesting batter of cultures and experimentation (Castañeda uses guitar pedals for the harp) brings me to "Florentino y el Diablo," a traditional canción llanera where the mithycal power of this South American musical genre is embodied by the counterpoint which is not treated as in the classical repertory but as a duel, just like in the hottest jam session, bringing this music to a universal understanding, in this case the encounter with this unbelievable duet.
Here are some videos for you to enjoy
I found this video on youtube. It's Edmar Castañeda performing with Now V.S Now
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